Lydian translation  Glossary
by Mel Copeland
(Relationships to the Etruscan PhrasesGlossary, a work first published in 1981)

This glossary of Lydian words includes relationships to Etruscan words in the Etruscan Glossary. The characters in the alphabet shown on this page produce this glossary. Differences with translators who claim that Lydian is Luwian, related to Hittite, include their characterizations of the letter we show as an "E" which they translated as a "D." Like Etruscan the "D" seems to be rare, and where the "D" is conventionally used the "T" is represented. Another character that seems to require greater examination is the "P" which has been transcribed as an "L" most of the time. The transcriptions available to me at this time simply don't differentiate a "P" versus an "L," and those transcriptions may be incorrect. The "C" is not used. The "K" is represented, as in Etruscan, by two characters as shown, the "T" also is represented by two characters as shown (sometimes the Etruscan rendering, as in the Tavola Cortonensis, is like a "Y." The "M" and "N" are rendered similarly to the Etruscan. Etruscan does not use an "O," omega and the character "V" serves as that vowel and sometimes as a "u." The two characters of Lydian that are the vowel "i" appear in Etruscan. The is rare in Etruscan and has been read as "ae." The is an "S" in Etruscan but definitely serves as a vowel, "A," in the Lydian scripts. The "R" is represented by three characters in Etruscan and only the "P" in Lydian. Letters peculiar to Etruscan  not yet seen in Lydian  include the "Q" and "ph." The "Q" is generally represented by a "C" in Etruscan and the Ø "ph" and "th" also appear to be missing from Lydian. In Etruscan the "ph" is generally used in words that coincide with Greek words/spellings, such as Phare, light, lighthouse. The character "B" is rare in Etruscan and transcriptions of the character in Lydian as a "B" as opposed to a "V" require further scrutiny. In any event this is the result of applying reading techniques for Etruscan to Lydian, resulting in a language, like Etruscan, that is close to Latin. The close proximity of Lydian to Latin may be sufficient to cast doubts on any correlations to Hittite / Luwian.

The Lydian alphabet shown here is rough, to say the least and will be updated when more scripts and good photo copies of the scripts can be reviewed. Characters used in the Etruscan scripts may be reviewed at the Lemnos_Script.html.